Seattle officer punches girl in face during jaywalking stop

reply to post by HistoryIsOnlyHisStory


I'd really like to see more effective resistence in cases like this. Less random screaming, and someone person walking up to the officer, looking him in the eyes and telling him that he needs to stop. Somebody loudly pointing out that "Hey, there are 20 of us and only one of him. Let's make him stop."

People simply deciding that they're not going to allow an arrest to take place.

I don't really understand what the girl was trying to do. It looks like she's play wrestling with him. The officer is having a difficult time establishing a hold, and when he does, he does it so badly that she squirms right out. She gets completely away at one point, but rather than run, she goes right back to play-wrestling with him.

All she had to do was leave.



[edit on 15-6-2010 by LordBucket]

Originally posted by brainwrek
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Anyone with an ounce of self respect and dignity would be able to defend themselves regardless of the gender of their attacker.

Would you have preferred he lock her up in a choke and drive her face first into the street?

Pepper spray. It allows him to step back away from multiple attackers and engage them safely from that distance, likely disabling them both. No one gets hurt, no dramatic punching, and everyone sprayed goes to jail.

Of course, we can always return to previous times of barbarism and forget the technology that is in place.

Edit to add: i spent 5 years working the admissions unit of a mental hospital. We dealt with acute patients who often were violent to either themselves or others. I have fended off attacks on hundreds of occasions. Never once did i punch one of them in the face. And i am sure that someone on meth of pcp is every bit as difficult to handle as these people were.

[edit on 15-6-2010 by bigfatfurrytexan]

I have to side with the cop, for one, doesn't matter if it's jaywalking, or a parking ticket the officer has a job to do. The second thing is they are running their mouth, resisting, and getting physical with the cop. He has a right to defend himself. I see nothing wrong really with what the cop did, if you are a female, and you want to get in a man's face, assault a man, or slap a man whatever, you may get hit. Now most cops are thugs, but this is not one of them. All they had to do was shut their mouth and take the ticket. They chose to fight with the cop, this is typical thug behavior on the side of the girls in the video, thinking they own the world and what they say goes. Sorry but the law is what goes, and the law says if you touch a cop, thats assault. The guy with the camera is your typical guy who films his friend acting like total asshats assaulting someone, then when they get their ass kicked they cry foul.

Cop did his job, and I rarely side with cops.

Deep breath . . . stop laughing . . . step back.

right.

lets review the facts -

loud mouth girls take on cop, get punched in face, school yard struggle ensues.

I don't really have full possession of all the events leading up to this (what crime was committed etcetera), but what is plainly evident is a lack of professionalism from the cop. I don't know quite how this should have been handled, I don't know if it was the guys first day on the job, all I have is the facts presented to me in this vid, and that is pretty much all I can judge by.

yes, America is now a police state, congratulations.

cops are just like you and me, only the believe the # they are told, justify their actions by the badge and rules they hide behind and are corrupted by the 'powers' they are given over 'citizens'.

this schism between them and us, the line in the sand that separates the ones those in and out of uniform is . . . #, it's pretty sick. it's deep as the ocean. what can you do?

what can be done? well, I ain't got a clear plan, but it seems that the plan they got now just ain't working. it's seems like trying to actively enforce the law just doesn't work. here's a thought - why not, instead of criminalizing the public, instead of constant patrolling and persuing, rethink the system - don't act, only respond.

you can't stop people from breaking the law, crimes will always be committed, greed and lust and violence are just part of this monkeys social structures. do cops really make the streets safer? I'm not going on the exception here (violent neighbourhoods, gang controlled suburbs) but rather on the norm. what is the norm? is it acceptable to think that someone has it in their rights, if they have a badge, that they can be justified in their actions more then another human who does not?

gah, I've gone on a rant. sorry, sorry. just a quick summation;

cops = human
law = law
girl getting punched in face = funny

. . . .something like that, anyways.

From what I seen, this cop did his job properly. He could have easily over-powered the female but it would have been deemed unnecessary use of force.

Do I agree with the punch in the face?

No, but I wasn't in his shoes so I can't say. I would assume that he was tying to uphold the law by the books until the girl placed her hands on him. She was trying to push the officer away from her friend.

The fact is that you can't please both sides. You try uphold the law but you get grilled, you turn a blind eye you get grilled for being lazy and corrupt.

I usually don't defend cops because there are corruptions. Having watched the video I came to the conclusion the cop was right.

[edit on 15-6-2010 by Equinox99]

This was just on the local news here in the Seattle area.

The girl has no been formally charged according to the broadcast, and it's being "heavily investigated."

The cop is a veteran officer, and responded with much less force than he had the right to.

This is getting an abundance of attention, from people trying to link it with another, and very serious case of a hispanic man being stomped by police officers while they used racial slurs.

This little girl getting punched in the face brought it on herself, and they're devaluing a very serious case by trying to bandwagon this onto it.

I posted on the first page that it amazes on ATS how often people make up their mind and refuse to see facts. I never said which side I was talking about but was immediately attacked by the anti-cop people. After reading the rest of this thread, it's clear I was talking about the anti-cop people. Ignore the video evidence of the women, ignore what is written in the article about what happened, etc.

It's pretty obvious that some of you hate cops so much that you can't even think with logic or intelligence. As a cop you can't just assume someone is a nice, unarmed person when they are trying to grab you or coming at you. You assume they are armed and dangerous and protect yourself.

Try to get past your hatred and see reality.

reply to post by HistoryIsOnlyHisStory


This is one thing I truly admire about black Americans, they look out and stick up for their own when it comes to Cop brutality.

They do it with a passion to, because they know the truth......

Black people in America don't look at a girl getting arrested for J-walking and resisting such victimless charges as a normal thing. Black people know this is wrong and they voice their outrage.

I truly respect them for that, where as most White or other race people will rather look at this situation from an authoritative technical stand point, Black people know when they are getting a stiff one up the rump.

It's happened to them for far to long for them to be naive or indifferent about it.



But now things are starting to change and police brutality, even through legal criminal charges are being used on white people, but it looks like Whites are going to have to go through 100 years of such treatment themselves before they develop the same attitude toward Cops as their fellow Black Americans do....sad to say.

But to the on ATS cops I say this....

I suggest you keep to abusing only whites with your excessive authority because if it wont take long for another L.A. riots to spring up if you don't learn from your past mistakes.



TA!!

This is BS - over every little thing - are these Cops that Really Weak to punch people over every little thing - they are also very scared and easily at that. This is BS

The way the KIDS in the video handled themselves was appalling however, they are not trained professionals.

I can remember a time when law enforcement officers earned respect. They didn't do it by being bullies, they often did it just by being the most reasonable person in the situation.

IMO, these days the cops are trained to fear the people so they're out there operating with the certainty that everyone is out to get them. Unfortunately, the general personality traits of people that are drawn to the profession combined with the training and amount of power they're given makes for some really frightening "law enforcement".

This officer was wielding power because he could, watching his overall demeanor I'm sure he was antagonistic in his approach.

Had he walked over the GIRLS (17 and 19 years old) and warned them of the safety issues of jaywalking instead of demanding they come to him and manhandling them when they didn't march to his tune, this situation wouldn't have escalated to this level and the girls would have walked away with some respect for this man and what he represents.

The officer SHOULD have been in control of this situation but he lost control of himself.

I don't see where the lady in pink "slapped" the officer as many posters have stated. While they certainly were resisting, they both showed more restraint than the officer. With all the pushing and wrestling, that shot to the face from the officer looks like a sucker punch.
I have to wonder how I would react were a female I loved being overpowered and forced into the vehicle of a lone officer.
I can see why the officer might be afraid, but I can also understand why those ladies might fear being compliant.

Originally posted by Scalded Frog
The way the KIDS in the video handled themselves was appalling however, they are not trained professionals.

I can remember a time when law enforcement officers earned respect. They didn't do it by being bullies, they often did it just by being the most reasonable person in the situation.

IMO, these days the cops are trained to fear the people so they're out there operating with the certainty that everyone is out to get them. Unfortunately, the general personality traits of people that are drawn to the profession combined with the training and amount of power they're given makes for some really frightening "law enforcement".

This officer was wielding power because he could, watching his overall demeanor I'm sure he was antagonistic in his approach.

Had he walked over the GIRLS (17 and 19 years old) and warned them of the safety issues of jaywalking instead of demanding they come to him and manhandling them when they didn't march to his tune, this situation wouldn't have escalated to this level and the girls would have walked away with some respect for this man and what he represents.

The officer SHOULD have been in control of this situation but he lost control of himself.

You have no idea how much I wish cops would listen to your words.

You have no idea how much I wish I could have seen Cops act as you have said they used to. I know at one time in America they did deserve the respect they earned but I have only read of those cops in books of the past.

I do hope some day those times come back again.

reply to post by Izarith


I completely disagree with your point of view on this particular instance. Playing the race card saying that this is police brutality of a white cop vs blacks. Would you say the same if it was a black cop or Latino etc?

I watched the video and I see this as two unruly teenagers physically striking an officer and obstructing. The officer was clearly not using excessive force when trying to subdue the 2nd girl. He very easily could have thrown her to the ground put his knee on the the back of her neck or any of the dozens of other techniques officers are trained in daily.

I do not agree with him punching the 1st girl, even tho I do feel she certainly deserved it, it was uncalled for in regards to professionalism and proper procedure.

Originally posted by Scalded Frog
The way the KIDS in the video handled themselves was appalling however, they are not trained professionals.

I can remember a time when law enforcement officers earned respect. They didn't do it by being bullies, they often did it just by being the most reasonable person in the situation.

IMO, these days the cops are trained to fear the people so they're out there operating with the certainty that everyone is out to get them. Unfortunately, the general personality traits of people that are drawn to the profession combined with the training and amount of power they're given makes for some really frightening "law enforcement".

This officer was wielding power because he could, watching his overall demeanor I'm sure he was antagonistic in his approach.

Had he walked over the GIRLS (17 and 19 years old) and warned them of the safety issues of jaywalking instead of demanding they come to him and manhandling them when they didn't march to his tune, this situation wouldn't have escalated to this level and the girls would have walked away with some respect for this man and what he represents.

The officer SHOULD have been in control of this situation but he lost control of himself.

1) How does the officer know they are not trained professionals? Do people trained to attack with lethal force wear a special shirt or a special hat?

2) So far this year 75 officers have been killed in the line of duty, up 14% from this date a year ago. Knowing you could die at any moment would you not be on guard and respond to someone coming at you or grabbing you with force? Any reasonable person would, but, apparently a police officer shouldn't, he should just be nice and polite and try to explain how bad they are. I wonder how you would feel if that officer was your brother, father, best friend or spouse. Would you still say what you have said?

Two words : Race Wars



...... you've been forewarned.

reply to post by zarlaan

I completely disagree with your point of view on this particular instance. Playing the race card saying that this is police brutality of a white cop vs blacks. Would you say the same if it was a black cop or Latino etc?

I'm not saying this is White cops Vs Black people, even tho i believe Black Cops are a bit less hasty to use Cop brutality.

What i am Saying is that The White perspective of this incident and their view of Cops is different to that of Black people who see the same thing and express their out cry over the treatment of their people.

Where as if this Cop in this Video treated two White Girls the Same way, The White Viewers perspective would still remain Technical and authoritative.

IMO most White People only show out cry against Authority abuse when it involves an animal like a dog or cat. If this Cop would have done half of what he did to a Dog the white Members of ATS would have shoved this thread right into the RANT section of the BTS forums.

Cops are cops I'm talking about the difference to the Reaction of the video. What I say has nothing to do with Cops Vs anyone of any color.

I watched the video and I see this as two unruly teenagers physically striking an officer and obstructing. The officer was clearly not using excessive force when trying to subdue the 2nd girl. He very easily could have thrown her to the ground put his knee on the the back of her neck or any of the dozens of other techniques officers are trained in daily.

Again you are looking at this incident technically, like its a frog in some laboratory.

When in reality this should have been a J-walking infraction at the most. But it was not.

I do not agree with him punching the 1st girl, even tho I do feel she certainly deserved it, it was uncalled for in regards to professionalism and proper procedure.

And neither does the majority of the Black American community at large. And if more instances like this happens they will take action because Blacks look out ad are against such treatment when it is video taped.

This is why i recommended to Cops of all colors to only get video taped doing these things to whites because they will only receive technical support and authoritative applause as a punishment to such acts instead of a Riot which should be avoided!

Do you understand me now?

[edit on 15-6-2010 by Izarith]

For JAYWALKING? Really?

I got a 65$ fine for this, and that pissed me off, but this is too far.

If you shove an officer, and especially if you do so in a way that could lead to you or someone else fleeing, you can and will get decked. Move along.

Originally posted by unityemissions
Two words : Race Wars



...... you've been forewarned.

Well...God is a man.

So, you already know who will win this war...

you've been forewarned.

I might as well get my shovel...there's about to be a lot of bodies to bury.

reply to post by Izarith

Again you are looking at this incident technically, like its a frog in some laboratory. When in reality this should have been a J-walking infraction at the most. But it was not.

Do you understand me now?

No, I'm afraid I still don't understand your statement regarding whites looking at this technically. What exactly is the alternative?

Sure the initial reason the officer confronted the girls was because of J-walking... for all we know. From the video I've seen, and unless there is another video showing it farther back. The incident in question starts with a girl telling the officer to get the F*** off her and swiping at his arms.

If the girl had complied with the officer asking her to come to him so he could explain what she did wrong. Perhaps there wouldn't have been anything further and she could of gotten away with simply a warning at the very worst a citation, which is the law. She decided to take the worse course of action possible and ended up with the corresponding consequences.







[edit on 15-6-2010 by zarlaan]